Agricultural Science for Kids

There is something about summer that makes even the most resolute city folks think about farms, growing fruits and vegetables, and rolling fields that seem to go on forever. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service has just the ticket for sparking kids' interest in matters of farming, noting on a website geared for children and their parents and teachers that "agriculture is more than just cows and pigs on the farm."

The Agricultural Research Service is the chief research arm of the U.S.D.A. and employs some 2,100 scientists at 100 locations nationwide, including a few outside the United States.

The site features a "cool careers" section which allows kids to explore the many kinds of scientists who work in the field of agriculture, from chemists and horticulturists to hydrologists and nematologists (scientists who study worms). There is a "for teachers" section with an extensive list of resources and classroom activities, educational puzzles and crosswords to print, and a separate section on science projects (including ideas for agricultural focused projects and how to set up a successful project). 

Teachers may want to use the site to help them plan for the coming year and parents may want to spark their children's interests in connecting with the science behind the bounty at their local farmers' market. It's chock-full of information and ideas and a great way to get kids involved in this important aspect of the world around them. 

The Changing Nature of High School

A number of recent articles on how high school education is changing seem to all respond to the same set of observations: too many students graduate from high school unprepared for college or the workplace, and the current national economy is less than hospitable to these high school graduates.

Several innovations -- both locally and nationally -- are attempting to address this situation. Here in New York, a new diploma credential, designed for regular and special education students who will be graduating with a Regents (academic) or local diploma,  is the Career and Technical Education Endorsement. As described by the New York State Department of Education, this credential requires coursework that combines career and technical education, as well as academic components, and may be jointly developed and taught by an academic subject teacher and/or a career and technical education teacher. It also requires that the student satisfactorily complete a "technical assessment." This assessment can be developed by a particular industry (such as the exam necessary for a student to obtain certification as an Emergency Medical Technician) or, if no specific assessment is available, can be developed by the school district in conjunction with local businesses or professional organizations. Such an assessment should include: written examination(s), student project(s) and student demonstration(s) of technical skills to measure proficiency.

Another approach to integrating high school academics and career readiness is happening in several communities on Long Island, where school  districts are setting up technical and career programs in individual schools, rather than send their students out to a regional program at a BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services, which serves a number of regional school districts) campus. There are both budgetary and practical reasons for this trend. As noted in Newsday, reduced State funding to BOCES has increased districts' costs of participation and some districts find it cheaper to keep their students in their own building. In addition, integrating technical and career training with academics is easier when all courses take place in the same building.

On a national level, there is a program known as P-Tech - Pathways in Technology Early College High School, originally developed by IBM to provide a strong education in STEM skills (science, technology, engineering, and math) to students in inner city schools. These students graduate from high school in six years, instead of four, and emerge with both a high school diploma and a two year associate's degree, as well as the promise of a good-paying job. There is an excellent description of these programs and the positive impact they are having on their students (called "innovators" at some schools) in Time magazine, which is also available in a printer-friendly version.

Dyslexia No Bar to Sports Success

Dr. Yellin is an avid fan of the New York Jets and has been since he was a kid.

So, it was with a good deal of interest that we noted a recent article in New Jersey's Star Ledger that revealed that both Jets head coach Rex Ryan and new team addition Tim Tebow each struggle with dyslexia, a language-based learning disability. The article notes that the coach and quarterback learned about their dyslexia at very different points in their lives. Tebow has a family history of dyslexia and both his father and brother have the same learning difficulty. Researchers know that there is a genetic predisposition to dyslexia in some families. Tebow learned about his dyslexia when he was in elementary school and was home-schooled through high school, moving on to the University of Florida.

Coach Ryan did not discover that he had dyslexia until he was in his forties but was able to rely upon his other areas of strength to earn his college and masters degrees in physical education.

Whatever the fortunes of the Jets this season, young people with dyslexia should be aware that there are numerous successful athletes with this learning disorder and, in fact, some experts believe that the ways that individuals with dyslexia need to adapt to read effectively can be helpful to them in a number of future careers, including business and the arts. Read a longer discussion of this phenomenon.